What did Apprentice Raef do next?

Raef Bjayou is appearing in another reality TV show four months after being fired by Sir Alan Sugar on the latest series of BBC show The Apprentice. He's competing in The Underdog Show where 10 celebrities are paired up with rescue dogs who they then have to train.

Former Apprentice candidate Raef is joined by the likes of MC Harvey

Has your life changed a lot following your appearance in The Apprentice?

It's changed a lot in terms of the media work I'm doing but it's not changed me as a person.

Do you still look back on being a candidate as a positive experience?

The Apprentice was an absolutely terrific experience and I would recommend it to anyone who is genuinely interested in business and I've still got a great email rapport with the terrific Alan Sugar.

I've also got a good rapport with everyone who was on the show. It's funny. I sent him a really long email thanking him for everything and what I'm up to and I got a very concise reply saying, 'Many thanks Raef.' I'm still in touch with everyone from the show.

Why are you appearing in The Underdog Show?

The reason I'm doing it is because a lot of reality shows lack heart and soul. This has got heart and soul in a bundle and the 10 celebrities who have taken part genuinely love dogs.

How does the show work?

The show is spread over 10 weeks and you train a dog up to quite a high obedience standard and you take them on these Crufts-esque type exercises.

At the end of it you decide whether you want to keep the dog or not. If not, the hope is someone will see the dog on TV and say, 'I want him or her'.

If lots of the contestants have kept the dogs there must have been some really mean celebrities who haven't?

It's easy to come to that conclusion. But I think it could be easier to say, 'I want this dog,' than 'I don't want this dog' because it's all very well saying I'm going to take this dog and I'm going to keep it.

But if you've generally got no time to keep it, it's going to be left in the flat or house 24/7, there is no point in taking it home. So there are legitimate reasons why celebrities haven't taken their cuddly furry dog home.

Explain what your dog is like and how you first met?

Raef Bjayou appeared on The Apprentice with Alan Sugar

She's a lovely small black terrier type dog called Suzie who is tiny and perfect for a London flat. When I first saw her I knew she was the one.

Was she quite disobedient?

She has a nickname of the escapologist. She is absolutely awful at running away and not coming back. I had an incident the other day when the postman rang the doorbell and she bolted down to my local park and I was running around in my dressing gown chasing my dog.

The sad fact is I was running around and I wasn't thinking, 'Suzie is going to come to harm.' All I was thinking was, 'All these people are looking at me thinking I'm some doggy abuser,' because she is obviously keen on not coming back to me. The truth is she is not trained on her recall.

Have you enjoyed doing this show? It sounds like it could be hard work?

Absolutely. I love learning new skills. I'm a sucker for experiences and the great thing about the Underdog Show is you're learning a new skill.

Generally speaking people don't come into contact with obedience and doggy handling. So I've learned something and it was very hard work, training three or four times a week.

Do people get booted off the show?

Yes they do. It's like from one Apprentice to a different type of Apprentice. Every week we have three judges and they judge who's not performed. Then one celebrity gets kicked out. So there is an overall winner of the competition.

Tell me about some of the celebrities on it and how good or bad their dogs are?

Brian Blessed appears in the show with his dog Dougal

We've got such a terrific bunch of people involved. We've got the wonderful Brian Blessed, who is a truly incredible character. He's got a huge dog called Dougal and they're perfect for each other because they are both loud and big characters.

We've got Lesley Joseph from Birds Of A Feather. She has a lovely dog called Louise who she found rather difficult to train. We have MC Harvey and his girlfriend Javine [Hilton]. There is a very eclectic, mixed bag of people involved.

Was there anyone you bonded with?

There is a terrific comedian on it called James Woods. He is incredibly talented and has a great sense of humour. It's great having a comedian on set because it just lightens the mood.

Were you jealous of anyone else's dogs?

No, because my dog is the pick of the bunch. She is absolutely gorgeous and perfect.

The Underdog Show is on Living TV on Sunday 21 September at 9pm.